Understanding How Online Casinos Operate

It looks rather simple from the outside, but there are about a dozen pillars that make up an online casino. Below we’ll offer a bit of insight into each of these so that you can make better and more informed choices in your hunt for a truly great site.

#1. Casino Platforms

Most big-name brand casinos will develop their own websites from scratch. However, there are also a lot of so-called “white label” providers out there. These guys provide a basic blank structure to multiple casino operators.

Casinos then put on their own branding and choose from a variety of options to differentiate themselves. Hence the term white label, because casinos are free to put their own stamp on things.

An advantage of a white label platform is you know exactly what you’re getting. If you’re a fan of one, things will be similar (but not exactly the same) at all the others. Mostly though, bespoke sites designed from a scratch are better experiences. Which is why we’ll always tell you if a casino is using a white label design.

#2. Game Suppliers

You want a good range of game suppliers – but also there’s a couple of standouts that are clearly the best in the business. For Kiwi players, sadly you won’t get access to the world’s very top pokies developers anymore.

But, developers like Red Tiger, Aristocrat and Bally are still very respected international pokies makers that make great games. In table games, Playtech, FELT and Red Tiger are just three excellent virtual RNG developers -but there are many more. In the live casino format, you’ll want to see Evolution Gaming titles as standard and then a few other developers on top of that.

#3. Live Dealer Casino Games

As real as the online casino experience gets. Most NZ online casinos also offer some form of live dealer tables. These are generally brought to you by companies like Vivo Gaming, Lucky Streak and Ezugi, but some offer tables from Evolution Gaming too. You can learn more about these by checking out our dedication live casino section or going deeper and looking at live blackjack or roulette pages.

#4. Payment Processing

All of our recommended casinos aim to process your withdrawals in 24 hours or less. For Kiwi players this may sometimes take a bit longer because foreign operators can be in different time zones to you.

Once processed, you should be able to use various methods such as cryptocurrency Bitcoin or a simple bank card to receive your funds. Some of these methods may go through instantly, and others a few hours. If you’re waiting any more than 3 to 5 days at the absolute maximum, that’s too long (unless there’s a legitimate reason for a delay).

#5. The KYC Process

KYC procedures, standing for Know Your Customer, are identity checks casinos perform to make sure you’re of age and (sometimes) are using totally legal cash to gamble with. Mostly all you’ll need to do is submit some ID and possibly a proof address. Just scan them onto your computer or take a photo with your smartphone. Most casinos will have the checks completed within a few hours at most. Easy!

KYC checks tend to be stricter the higher your budget is. So watch out for that. Importantly, as an Kiwi customer, there’s no direct licence or regulator to make casinos do these checks. However, many will still ask you to do them anyway.

#6. Casino Bonuses

Broadly, casino bonuses come in three forms:

• Bonus cash
• Deposit match cash
• Free Spins

The best Kiwi online casinos will have two or even three of these bonuses as options for new players. Sometimes they’ll be combined, other times you’ll have to choose between them. Most offers start with a $AU10 minimum deposit.

At the top-end you’ll get between $AU100 and $AU1000 or more, matched with 100%-200% of your initial deposit. The best casinos will give you 10 or 20x as a playthrough requirement. Some might go up to 50x or so, but we’ll also point these out as not-so-great offers. Free spins offers can give you anywhere between 10 and 100 free spins on a range of pokies games. Sometimes it’ll be a selection of games, and other casinos will tie their free spins to one game. The best offers will let you play any pokies game of your choice, although these are rarer to see.

#7. Loyalty Programs & Promotions

The best casinos will offer a range of promotions, and a whole load of loyalty rewards too. These can include:

• Pokies tournaments
• Prize giveaway tickets with deposits
• Loyalty points
• Custom bonuses

You might find monthly or weekly promotions, and in some cases none at all. Promotions aren’t essential to be a good or even great casino site, especially with good bonuses in place, but they certainly help.

Loyalty points become more important the higher your gambling budget is. VIP players should always be on the look out for a strong reward scheme, as the more you put in the more value you can get. We’ll always point you in the direction of a good casino loyalty system when we see one!

#8. E-Mail & SMS Offers

If you never want to miss that perfect bonus, and sometimes get exclusive ones too, it might be worth signing up to your chosen casinos email or SMS list. On the other hand, some of you might not want bonus offers in your work inbox. If you’ve ever had problems with gambling, this might not be the best idea for you either. However, for those who want top-tier exclusive bonuses and promotions, email offers are the way to go.

#9. Mobile Experience

Nowadays people all over the world enjoy gambling on their mobile – or even tablets. On-the-go gaming is today easier than ever. Nearly all casinos will have a mobile site, but not all treat it with the same sense of importance as their desktop option.

If you play on your mobile, you need an NZ online casino site that offers everything you can do on the desktop version. Crucially, the best casino sites will optimize their mobile offering to give you as a smooth a user experience as possible. We’ll always make our mobile reviews as comprehensive as you need. Because mobile play should never be an afterthought in the modern market.

#10. Casino Payout Rates

If you’re new to online casinos, you could be forgiven for thinking that the potential returns for each game were set by the casino operators themselves. This is actually not true. Most (99%) of online casino games are completely set up by independent game developers. They should have had their games independently audited for fairness by a third party – and you can check that with us or on the developer’s website.

The RTP or (Return to Player) is a key statistic if you’re looking to get the most potential value out of your gameplay. It tells, you on average, how much of your money you will win back as you play. However, don’t think that means if you play for $AU10, you’ll get $AU9 back every time on a 90% RTP game. This is an average, over thousands of players across the lifetime of a game.

Sometimes, you’ll win more – other times you’ll lose more. Thus is the nature of gambling. However, a high RTP game, such as live blackjack at 99.6%, will give you more wins in the long run than a 85% RTP pokies game.

#11.  Licensing

There’s no direct NZ licence for online casinos, and that’s just a fact if you’re a Kiwi who want to gamble online. Therefore your best bet is a casino with another international licence, such as one from Curacao or the Maltese Gaming Authority in Europe.

We’ll be frank – this isn’t the best situation for anyone involved. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t organisations that keep Kiwi-facing online casinos accountable – and we’ll help you sift out the few rogue operators as well.

#12. Crypto Casinos

One of the quickest ways for your average NZ online casino fan to get paid now days is by cryptocurrency.

These internet-based currencies, such as the famous Bitcoin or up-and-comer Litecoin, are super-fast, secure and anonymous. Loads of regular online casinos that take on Kiwi players also allow cryptocurrency deposits.

This should be just as easy as using a card or an ewallet. Some casino sites, such as the internationally known Casoo, are designed from the ground-up for BTC and other crypto play.

Because 1BTC is often worth several thousand dollars or more, people often gamble in small bits of Bitcoin such as 0.1 or 0.0001. However, crypto-focused online casinos will often have super-high limits too. So if you’re a big VIP customer, this might be a method of playing worth looking into.

About This Website

At NZCasinos, we’ve assembled some of the biggest Kiwi online casino experts in the game.

When you need to know absolutely anything about online gambling or casinos from the fair land of New Zealand, our in-depth knowledge and experience is at your service.

We’re here to help you find the best casinos, games and bonuses that are available to you today – and in the future. Good luck!

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